Everything I've Ever Dreamed Of...
by Bria1
Summary: PG-13 just in case. Sorry about the problems! It's working now! The other half is showing up! :) A Kel/Neal fling during a harsh training mission to nothern Tortall. A bit of adventure and a lot of realization as both Kel and Neal dicover everything
1.

"Drat!" Squire Keladry cursed as a flame from her portable forge sprang up and licked her finger for a second time. "Drat! Drat! Drat!" She placed her finger in her mouth to cool the new blister. Autumn was arriving, and the wind of nothern Tortall whipped across the squires' faces as it swooped upon them from the nearby mountains. It was a training mission really, but no one had done much but stir old rice in a rusty skillet and repair nails in a the portable forge.   
  
"Who's ingenius idea was this anyway?" It was Nealan of Queenscove, the chosen chef of the chilly Sunsday's night. "I mean, is there even some relatively sense-possessing reason we're here?"   
  
"Nealan," The appointed training master of Tortall had returned from his evening bath in the creek. "I can see you are not aware of the importance of this training." His eyes narrowed as brows of ash wrinkled in disgust. "Perhaps you should take your complaints to the king himself. It is, after all, his will that brings us here to the mountain bases."   
  
Neal shook his head and began to stir their meager supper once again. "No problems here, oh mighty master of training." His comment brought scowls from his fellow squires, as Lord Wlydon retreated to the only real tent of their encampment. The rest of their party was expected to create their own shelters from the surrounding resources. If you could even call them resources. The trees and underbrush did little more than provide ancient plants with a place to become dryrot. At the time, the "shelters" were simply a log propped against a more or less sturdy tree, with a cloak or two drapped across the juncture.   
  
"Well, our little band shall not be nail-less for the time being." Joked Kel as she set down her bucket of newly-crafted nails. "I can't believe I've stooped this low. I'm a smith!" She began to tend her numerous burns.   
  
Neal looked toward the lady squire. "Oh Gods, Kel! Are you forging the nails or your fingers?" He rose from the feeble cooking fire and began to strip banages from an old cloak. "Let me see them, Kel."  
  
Keladry felt her pulse quicken. "No, you know I won't settle for magical-" But Neal cut her short.   
  
"Ah-ah-ah." He teased, dressing her minor wounds. "Hasn't your mother ever taught you to cooperate with healers?" He took a jar from a leather satchel and began to rub a vile-smelling sort of balm on her hands. She would've rather died than admit it, but she took pleasure from his gentle touch.   
  
"Forgive me, kind sir," Kel laughed, playing along, "but manners are easily forgotton in the depths of the barren wilderness."   
  
Just as Neal sealed the last dressing with healing magic, Lord Wlydon ventured from his lodgings once again. "Squires!" He barked, surveying the haggard group of youths. "Night will soon be upon us. See Squire Nealan for you rations and then get those hopeless rears in gear. Your shelters must be completed before dark or you'll find yourself enjoying a good night's rest under the stars. This, of course, would not be horrible, but I fear the clouds above are preparing for a storm." He feigned a mock sort of concern. "Now get to it!" He turned sharply on one heel before tying the canvas flap of the tent.   
  
The small regiment let out a groan and slowly set to work. After downing the weak helpings of rice, the owners of the shelters returned to the seemingly hopeless work. Kel especially was having trouble gettin her small pile of branches to become anything more than another heap of twigs upon the forest floor.   
  
"How come you get the rock?" She questioned of Neal who had been making his small cabin against the face of a towering stone.   
  
"Dunno." He answered, grasping a few yards of vine between his perfect teeth. "I'm not sure position is going to matter anyway. None of us seem to be getting this." He spat the vines onto the rickety platform of sticks. "Sheesh, you'd think the Stump could think of something a bit more productive."   
  
Kel laughed and returned to her task. She watched as Neal wove his twigs to fit the cliff. She stared as a strand of soft hair blew across his shinning eyes. Why did she feel like this? And why was Neal so special? She couldn't seem to shed the fluttering feeling in the pit of her stomach.   
  
Dark soon fell, and the squires fell silently into their makeshift shelters, tired to the bone from the day's tasks. Not long after the last of them had fallen into unsettling sleeps, it began to rain, no...pour was more the word for it. Drowning towns and forest in sheets of icy liquid. The wet had soon found its way into Kel's camp drenching the shivering girl in cold. Thunder cracked too close for her comfort. The branches of her shelter began to blow apart, scattering her building materials across the area. The wind howled, a dash of lightning was sprinkled across the midnight sky and Kel found no choice but to run. Neal's lean-to was just up ahead.   
  
The feeble light of the sliver of moon guided her to Neal.   
  
"Kel!" He exclaimed. He had obviously not been asleep. "I'm so glad to- ...what are you doing here?"   
  
My shelter! It's been completely blown away! It's this dratted storm. I ran, and when I saw your stone I thought that maybe you wouldn't mind if---" He stopped, gazing into the eyes of the one she adored. Neal gripped her shoulder. "It's alright, Keladry. You're safe now."   
  
*What am I saying?* Thought Neal to himself. Keladry? Ohh...it was such a beautiful name. Keladry... Safe? Of couse she was safe. She would always be safe with him.   
  
"It's a shame your shelter fell." He added. Was it really a shame? No. It was not.   
  
"No, it's not all a shame." Kel began, as if reading his thoughts. "I'm with you now..."   
  
Words were no longer needed. He leaned forward, locking his eyes on hers, his face slowly advancing upon the petal-soft lips of his love...  
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Aghh! My romance muse again! Please no flames from you Kel/Cleon fans, I hope you enjoy this anyway. Chapter 2 coming soon! Please review.  



	2. 

~Chapter 2~  
  
The frozen northern air was the first thing Neal felt when he awoke the following morning. A soft tangle of brown locks that were not his own was the second. He looked down at the still-dozing Kel in his arms. Her fair complexion framed by the silken strands of golden brown, her long, delicate lashes resting together in sleep. And for Neal, everything at that very moment was just the way it needed to be. He paid no mind to the howling wind just behind the makeshift door or the damp, rotting earth that had threatened to flood the night before. She was all that mattered...   
  
"Neal?" Kel rubbed the sleep from her eyes and turned to him. "Is it still raining?"   
  
"Kel! You've been out for hours!" He teased. "No, the rain stopped about an hour or so ago. More storms are expected, but we're all hoping the Stump'll spare us from anything else this place could throw at us." He smiled boyishly.   
  
"I suppose that means he'll find something else for us to do." She returned his grin. "I haven't been outside yet, but I'm almost sure the campsite is a mess." She surveyed the mess inside the cramped shelter. "We'd better get work in here too." Neal shifted so Kel could sit up. She grabbed his hand and together they managed to make it into a sort of a standing positon.   
  
With each mind on the heart of the other, the two set to their tasks. Neal began to fold the wrinkled blankets and stack them in a corner, while Kel reorganized the sacks of supplies that had been upset by the wind and their moving around the night be They then ventured outside to patch the thinning areas of the roof. Kel's prediction was indeed correct: the camp was in tatters. Sticks from the shelters had flown in all directions across the clearing and everything resting on the ground was now covered in a thick, pastey mud.   
  
  
"You'd think this wasteland would settle for mud and ice, but no...it has to rain too." Said Merric of Hollyrose sourly as he, too, tried to fix his shelter.   
  
"I'd shove it if I were you. Wyldon isn't having the best of days." Added Seaver from across the way.   
  
"Neither are we." Muttered Neal as Kel pushed the last of the fallen twigs into place. Kel threw him a grim smile.   
  
Just as the squires had finsished thier rebuilding, the side of the tent was pulled back to reveal Lord Wyldon, fully dressed in a dark tan, as cheerful as ever. "Alright!" He pulled a board from the lumber pile and dropped it at his feet. He stood atop the wood to avoid sinking into the ever-preasent mud. "Owen! Start scrubbing that pot. It's your day to cook." He shot a glare, icy as the wind, to the sleepy Owen. "Get yourselves dressed suitably for a long climb and then meet back here in a half hour."  
  
"My Lord, more storms are expected." Protested Merric.   
  
"A knight does not wait for the weather to fulfill his wants!" Wyldon barked. "You think immortals rest while it rains? Think bandits sit at home during a hail storm? I hope you never find that out the hard way! Now get to it!"   
  
The group shook their heads. Neal let out an exasperated sigh only audible to Kel.   
  
"That man never sleeps!" He grumbled.   
  
"I'll be back in a minute." Kel told him. "I'd like to change before I pack up." She left the clearing and returned to her heap of belongings. Climbing...that didn't sound too good. The mountain bases were demanding enough for anyone. She rummaged through the sacks of garments and finally selected a pair of dark tan breeches, a white cotton shirt, a sturdy tunic of deep blue, and a warm cloak of the like. She took care to remember leather gloves and boots before closing her bag. *There* She thought to herself. *That should be alright.* She finished her packing and returned to the main clearing to meet her fellow squires. As the team assembled, Kel glanced at the mountains before her. An idiot could tell that it would not be an easy journey. *Oh well.* She glanced across the circle. *At least Neal will be with me.*  
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Ooohhh....a mountain...Neal....Kel...he he he.....  
  
  



	3. Immortals

Halfway up the side of the mountain, not even Neal could stop the throbbing in her aching feet. Kel slowed for a moment and adjusted her pack. What was the purpose of this? Neal skipped a few steps to catch up with her and studied the weary squire.   
  
"Well," he panted blowing hair from his eyes. "This is certainly invigorating."  
  
"Sarcasm…not…appreciated." Faleron grunted from behind.   
  
"Jolly." Owen chimed in. "This must be the tallest mountain in the area, and my feet don't doubt it's the widest as well." All of them looked toward their training master who plowed ever forward at a steady pace.   
  
"Bet it's because he slept in a real tent." Grumbled Neal as the party dismally struggled to keep up with their leader. Chuckling inwardly, Kel followed.  
  
Not long after the Squire's had finished throwing complaints about, Lord Wyldon announced a short break for the midday meal. "No fires." He told them, sternly. "This underbrush would have the mountainside up in flames from a single spark." He motioned toward a leather sack at his feet. "Grab some of this and you'll be fine." The squires, each in turn, ventured to the bag and collected their lunch. If you could even call it that. But then again, dried food was never a hit.   
  
The rain, fog, and climb did nothing to lift Kel's spirits. Why did it have to be so...clamy? A booming voice that meant business stirred the girl from her thoughts. Again, it was Lord Wyldon, this time perched upon a fallen tree.  
  
"I want you all to listen and listen well." He began. "I know this trip isn't at the top of any of your lists, but it is more necessary than you may think." He turned and looked at each of them in turn. "Parties of the Queen's Riders were up here no longer than one month ago. The truth is, Squires, that a new and horribly deadly form of immortal is rumored to have been created after the falling of the barrier. This type of thing is actaully quite common. When members of different species are found together for the first time, new creatures of combined species often...appear."  
  
Kel stared. What had he said? A new immortal? *Well, at least we'll get a bit of exercise.* She tought to herself. But a new immortal? *We could have some problems on our hands.*  
  
"There are going be a few things you'll need to know." Continued Wyldon. "His Highness is contacting me though a magicked mirror and he and I will be briefing you as soon as more information becomes available. In the mean time, stay on your toes. You never know when we could be called." This was obviously a dismissal.   
  
"This could get a trifle interesting." Commented Merric, as the group of squires settled down on a few boulders to rest. "What do think we're in for?"  
  
"No way to tell." Faleron replied. "It's just a matter of time."  
  
Neal was having thoughts of his own. Lately, instead of thinking about himself, Kel came first in his mind. When it rained he found himself naturally wondering if she was comfortable. When meals were served he wanted her to be full, and when evening dawned he prayed for her to sleep peacefully. Would these so-called immortals prove to be as dangerous as Wyldon had predicted? Faleron was right. There was no sure-fire way to tell. No way to tell what the real threat would be. No way to know if she would be alright...  
  
Kel sighed and drew her knees to her chest. She had finally been accepted as one of the boys. She had shown them all that she could fight and solve figures as well as any man. So why did she now have to go all feminine? *Neal...arggh! Why can't he just...* But there was no way to complete the thought. Neal wasn't doing anything, but on the other hand, neither was she. So why was everything so mixed up? It was this question that she pondered long after her friends had fallen asleep.  
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So...like it? I hope so :) Review if you will!


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